


It Was a Dark and Stormy Movie Night

by lea_hazel



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Community: purimgifts, Friendship, Gen, Hobbies, Story within a Story, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29534202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lea_hazel/pseuds/lea_hazel
Summary: Zack discovers Shadowsan's secret hobbies.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	It Was a Dark and Stormy Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DWEmma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DWEmma/gifts).



> No season 4 spoilers. This story might take place sometime between seasons 2 and 3.

"Hey, Carm! You'll never guess what happened!" 

Carmen stopped her training regimen for just a moment, releasing the punching back to wipe her sweaty forehead with a towel. Zack was barrelling through the door and in her general direction, as loud and enthusiastic as a puppy. She hadn't seen him this happy since their favorite bakery brought back their seasonal double-stuffed, super-sprinkled, glazed donuts. There wasn't enough time for her to ask whether he really wanted her to guess, because Zack was so happy he blurted it out right away. 

"Shadowsan offered to take me out to the movies! _Movies_ , Carm, plural! Can you believe it?" 

"I... literally can't," said Carmen. 

But Zack was too excited to hear the doubt in her words. "It's finally happening! Me and Shadowsan, best buds forever. Hey, how long do you think it'll be before I can start my ninja training? Hi-yah!" 

He aimed a clumsy kick at her punching bag and missed spectacularly. 

Carmen pushed down the urge to burst into laughter and said, "I'm glad the two of you are getting along so well." 

Later, she found Shadowsan cooking dinner in the kitchen and met him with a raised eyebrow. 

"I can see that you have a question for me, Carmen," said Shadowsan. 

"I do," she replied. "Did you really invite Zack to a movie night? He's all riled up about it." 

Shadowsan furrowed his brow and grumbled, as he so often did. "He would not stop asking me to watch his inane martial arts movies with him and had no interest in hearing how historically inaccurate they are." 

"People rarely do," agreed Carmen with a smile. 

"So I decided that it was time for him to experience some real culture. The museum down the street is holding a film noir festival, and I have been meaning to attend." 

"I had no idea you were a fan of film noir," said Carmen. 

"There are many things you do not know about me," replied Shadowsan. 

*

Carmen Sandiego was a lady and a thief. She wore a scarlet raincoat and a matching hat, and she had been to everywhere on Earth that was worth going to, and seen and done everything there was to do and see. There was no heist too daring for her and no vault that she couldn't crack, as long as no one got hurt. No one but her, that is, because, at that very moment, Carmen Sandiego was sitting in her office alone, drinking whisky and bleeding freely from a bullet wound to the left arm. 

"Not my shooting arm, luckily," she said to her secretary, Ivy, flexing the fingers of her right hand while the latter nursed her open wound, "if you can call it luck." 

"Call it Providence," said Ivy, "because luck can't hold forever. You better hope there's someone up there watching over you, Carmen, because I got a feeling your luck's about to run out." 

"As long as I've got coffee in the morning and whisky at night, I'll be fine," drawled Carmen, leaning back in her chair and then wincing when her bandaged arm brushed against the arm-rest. 

"Should I make you a cup of coffee, then?" asked Ivy, her hands on her hips. "Because it's barely eleven." 

Carmen glanced at the clock and looked away. "I don't pay you to nag, Ivy." 

"You don't pay me near enough," quipped the secretary. "I'm here to pay the bills and keep the lights on, not scold you into good behavior. Speaking of which, the mail is on your desk." 

Carmen threw the pile of letters a cursory glance and returned her gaze to the tumbler in her hand. "Anything interesting?" 

"Bills," said Ivy flatly, "and one letter with an address I didn't recognize. Might be a new client." 

*

Ivy snorted and punched her brother in the arm. 

"Ow!" said Zack, rubbing his arm with a wounded expression. "What was that for?" 

"Carm doesn't talk like that, doofus!" she said. "Also, why am I the secretary? It's the twenty-first century, Zack." 

"She's got a point there," said Carmen. 

Zack and Ivy both yelped and spun around to find Carmen leaning against the doorframe, smiling. 

"I take it movie night went well?" she asked Zack. 

"Oh, yeah!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air. "It was amazing! Why didn't you tell me film-noir was so cool? I thought it was going to be all boring black-and-white stuff." 

Carmen threw back her head and laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." 


End file.
